Battle of Lewis's Farm

Other Names: Quaker Road, Military Road, Gravelly Road

Location: Dinwiddie County, Virginia

Campaign: Appomattox Campaign (March-April 1865)

Date: March 29, 1865

Principal Commanders: Maj. Gen. G.K. Warren [US]; Maj. Gen. Bushrod R. Johnson [CS]

Forces Engaged: 17,000 [US]; 8,000 [CS]

Casualties and losses: 850 total (US 380; CS 370)

Result(s): Union victory

Brief Description:

On March 29, in the opening moves of Grant's spring offensive, Sheridan marched with the army's cavalry followed by the V Corps toward Dinwiddie Court House to turn the right flank of Lee's Petersburg defenses. The Union V Corps under Maj. Gen. G.K. Warren crossed Rowanty Creek, moved up the Quaker Road toward the Boydton Plank Road intersection, and encountered Johnson's Confederate brigades. A sharp firefight forced the Confederates back to their entrenchments on the White Oak Road. Casualties were nearly even for the Union and for the Confederates, but as the battle ended, Warren's corps held an important objective, a portion of the Boydton Plank Road at its junction with the Quaker Road. Within hours, Major General Philip Sheridan's cavalry corps, which was still acting apart from the Army of the Potomac as the Army of the Shenandoah, occupied Dinwiddie Court House. This action also severed the Boydton Plank Road.